Daddy's Little Girl

My Dad has been on my mind today. On February 22, it will be 15 years since he passed away from complications due to ALS. Frankly, the disease sucks and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. But compared to the Big "C", it's a fairly pain free disease until the end.

My Dad was born on May 8th, 1929 (I think) in a coal camp in Carbon County. He was the oldest son of Gerald and Katie Banasky. He had one living brother, Jimmy, and one sibling who died at birth (I think). He met my mother on a blind date and married her on December 15, 1956. They saw each other about 4 times before they got married. She lived in Vancouver BC Canada and he lived in Salt Lake City while he was going to the University of Utah. In September 1958, they had my sister Katie. Two years later, the same month and the same day as Katie, I was born. Five years later, there was a little tag-a-long named Georgina, George to those who know and love her.

We lived in a house on Main Street in Helper Utah for most of my childhood, moving to Salt Lake City when I started high school. From there, they moved to Twin Falls, Idaho, back to Carbon County, then to Coalville Utah. They lived in Coalville until my father passed away.

My dad and I had a strange love hate relationship for most of my teenage years, love on his side, hate on mine. Mostly I think I hated myself because I didn't know where I was going or what I was doing. I asked my father once, after I had been married for a few years and had children of my own, why he didn't just shoot me when I was 17 and put him out of his misery. His answer? "Where would the fun be in that?". I have affectionately referred to myself as my "father's daughter" for a long time. We both had the same hard headed personality. He told me once that I would spend half my life pissing people off and the other half apologizing for it. I hate it when he's right.

During my dad's last year of life, I was fortunate to be able to spend a lot of time talking to him. I was raising two small children, working full time and managing a house mostly by myself because Mike was always gone. My dad told me one day that "he was going to be my guardian angel. I needed someone to watch out for, and take care of me because I didn't do it myself". Sometimes, during really rough times in my life, he still comes to me. I can hear his voice, just like if he was standing beside me. He will say "Edythe, you need to slow down before you are no good to anyone." I love it that sometimes the veil is so thin that he is still with me.

I found that I had loaded a song onto my MP3 player that I use at work that really brought him back. It was a song by Faith Hill called Daddy's Girl. I had never heard it before, but it really said it all. Sometimes when I really have a bad day, I still wish I was just "Daddy's Girl". I love you Dad.